Communication Coordination and Camaraderie in World of Warcraft

Communication, Coordination, and Camaraderie in World of Warcraft Mark Chen October 27, 2006

Overview • concept: game mechanics vs. player behavior • setting: World of Warcraft • analysis: coordination in high-end raids; camaraderie and trust • implications: mechanics too narrow; coordination based on experience, not end goal

Game Mechanics & Communities • Assumptions: – helping people see how individual affects community and vice versa important – responsibility of educators • If games can be used as training grounds, how do we get people to value community? • Previous research looked at game design and mechanics— change mechanic, change player behavior. (Smith; Zagal, Rick, & Hsi)

Ethnography of MMORPGs • personal experience didn’t match up with models • players’ actual choices are complex and socially situated • look at social practice Steinkuehler) (Taylor,

World of Warcraft • 7 million subscribers • each server has 1000 s • fantasy world • character classes • kill monsters, complete quests to gain experience and loot

Game Interface

Attributes and Items better loot and experience = more powerful character

Raid Group • 40 players - Molten Core • each played different role • labor was divided/roles emerged through social practice (Strauss, Stevens) – through game defined roles (character class and ability) – through merit (case-specific ability or prior knowledge) – through existing structures (previous relationships)

Communication • text channels – standard (raid) – specialized (madrogues) • voice chat

Coordination • • chat interwoven on and off task simultaneously coordinated contextually meaningful – 18: 11: 20. 421 : [4. soulburn] Lori: Remember, ss target will change at Domo, but until then, your rezzer is to be ssed at all times. • jovial

Molten Core

An encounter with Molten Giants— why coordination necessary? • two Main Tanks • healers • damage dealers kept track of aggro

Learning in Molten Core bodies from previous failures • individual learning • group learning through failure: – “Now I hope no one's getting frustrated. This is how raids go. It's normal: You fight and fight until your gear is broken, repair and do it again. . . It can take a while to master these encounters but we're doing good work!”

Camaraderie (lack thereof) • One night, raid suffered meltdown. • doubt, bickering in specialized chat channels – Shaun: . . Sven, you are fired. – Sven: Hey, most people avoid you, Shaunie! It's the breath. I'm giving an alternative! – Shaun: an option that is closer to the caves. you. . . you are trying to kill us all. . – Sven: Well? It hasn't happened, now has it? ? Stop being so paranoid! • camaraderie, level of communication in shared channels low (8 min of silence) • no communication = no trust (Iacono & Weisband)

Recovery • bottom-up reflection on meltdown – “I love our raid. . . We are like brothers and sisters really. Stuff like this is going to happen. However I think we have all been playing long enough to know that we have a pretty great group of people going here and truly we care about and try to do what is best for one another. ” • reaffirmed goals • trust built through valuing shared experience

Implications • Must look at player social practice • Learning happens socially, through lived experience and practice • Coordination needed to succeed in group work • Trust among team members crucial • What builds trust? – – specialized roles willingness to fail communication relationships/shared experience goal – ability to reflect on goal